


Something in my heart

by DragonsInWinter



Category: Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-13
Updated: 2014-11-13
Packaged: 2018-02-25 06:23:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2611628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonsInWinter/pseuds/DragonsInWinter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ever since she first laid her eyes upon him she knew. She did however not quite know what she knew – but something happened there in that moment, when his amber gaze met hers. It was like the air shifted when they both eyed each other closely.  Something had changed, and she decided that it was all she needed to know, for now.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Something in my heart

She was no stranger to the smell of mud, sweat and dried blood – but inside the camp of Ostagar however, the smell was overwhelming. No wonder, the campsite was big and there were people everywhere. She could see the King’s soldiers in each direction her head turned, and the distinct chants of what were the Sisters of the Chantry filled her ears. Not far from where she and Duncan entered camp the dancing colours above large tents drew her attention, no doubt the circle of Magi was preparing for battle.

The noise was most welcome as it distracted her from the dark thoughts that bundled up in her mind. There she lingered on her mother’s last words to her dying father, Teyrna Cousland taking her last stand – defending her husband to both of their dying breath. It haunted her – the Cousland family’s last goodbye. There was emptiness inside her chest, as if her heart was missing completely. “Shake if off” she thought and shook her shoulders heavily. Duncan glanced back at her, observing her face carefully. She had not fallen apart thus far, and had no intentions of doing so either.

Her thoughts grew darker however. Howe’s face was as burnt into the inside of her eyelids. Each and every time she blinked he was there, with his treacherous face standing in their great hall. Laughing at her. “I will chase you to the heart of the Blight, to all the corners of the world. You shall not escape me, and you shall pay with your life for what you have done to our family” she vowed in silence. The rage filled the cavity in her chest, and it scared her. “Shake it off” she thought again as her shoulders heaved once more. She could feel a firm hand grasping her shoulder and her gaze met Duncan’s as she turned her head towards the pressure. “Breathe” he said gently, his hand not moving from her shoulder. She filled her lungs to the point where it felt as if her armour would tear in their seams and then exhaled. It felt slightly better even though the stench burned her nostrils. “What is that smell?” she asked him. The mud and sweat she could distinguish, but the iron-tinted smell she first had thought to be blood lingered. “Darkspawn blood” he answered with a hint of distaste and gave her shoulder a light squeeze before he nodded forward and began to walk towards a great campfire.

She composed herself then, straightening her back and empowered all the strength she could muster and followed his strides. They were on a mission, she reminded herself – she had to be stronger than this. Time for revenge would come, but until that moment the entire future of Ferelden were in grave danger. She could not afford to lose herself to her dark side and the all-consuming anger lingering there.  

The few tents around the fire were the Grey Wardens campsite and after installing herself in one of them, she was sent off by Duncan to visit the quartermaster and to find his fellow warden. Duncan had mentioned his name to her but as her feet carried her deeper inside the campsite, it slid away from her.

As she walked towards a slightly risen platform carved in stone that once must have been white, she could see two male figures. One fully clothed in heavy armour and the other was wearing a bright coloured silken garment. The later of the two had a sour expression on his face as she approached them, glaring at the blonde man facing him.

As their conversation ended the Mage turned around and strode off with angry strides. “You know, one good thing about a Blight is how it brings people together” the blond man said just before he turned around to face her. She caught his gaze and at the very moment she did, something changed around her, almost like the very air shifted around her.

His eyes were a fiercely, burning shade of brown. Observant. Shy even. She studied him for a while. What would one answer such a statement? Then a slight giggle escaped her lips “I know exactly what you mean”. He grinned at her and placed his arm and hand forward “I’m Alistair, and you are?” “You can call me Arielle, Duncan sent me to see that we came back to camp” Arielle said while answering his gesture with her own hand.

Alistair could feel his cheeks tinge red when his hand shook Arielle’s hand. Being around women always made him quite awkward. To be fair he was awkward around almost every one, but his face did not always betray him quite as harshly it had done now, not even around women – not unless he had said anything particularly stupid. Today however such stupidity had not occurred. At least he thought so. There was something different about her. Arielle. Alistair had felt it at the same moment their eyes had met, how the air around them shifted. Perhaps he was reading too much into it, the mages were quite close. It _was_ possible some of their magic had swooped out and passed them. Naturally, that had to be the case.

**Author's Note:**

> I could never imagine that pushing the post-button would be so scary. This is my first try at fan fiction and to actually to something proper with my urges to write. So please don't hesitate to point things out (good things and what could've been done better), it would be highly appriciated.


End file.
